A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.

— George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Week 31

Sometimes wishes do come true!

If you read my post from last week you'll recall that it was my wish to see snow on my trip to Santa Fe last week. The morning after our arrival we were graced with a light dusting of snow. Not enough to make snowballs with, but it was something. The real treat came on the last two days of the trip. We awoke Tuesday morning to a significant amount of snowfall. Keep in mind I'm from Florida, I've only seen snow twice in my entire life, so one inch of snow is significant to me. Snowball fights were in order, and I had the luxury of scraping the car window of ice and snow. What a treat, and not just for me, but for the area as well since their winter has been lacking in snow this season.

As we drove out to the airport to catch our flight home there were little speckles of snowflake clusters dusting the car. It was hard to leave Santa Fe, figuratively and literally! Flight delays put us at 28 hours of travel time between four flights and five different airports. Little did we know we were coming home a day late to spring in full swing at 80 degree weather, with the infamous yellow coating of pollen adorning the cars. I had no idea we'd be trading white for yellow accents on our vehicles.

Santa Fe was amazing. I really can't say that enough, and it will have its own storyline in its own blog post so as not to encroach on the 365 project. Speaking of, I just had to keep with the winter theme for week 31 as a celebration of snow in all its wonderland glory.

I knew I wanted to use a recent shot from my visit to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the slot canyon trail as we didn't want to be rushed for time. We had dinner plans back in town that evening with a couple of amazing artist friends and we were an hours drive away.Between Peter sketching and me stopping to shoot every 10 feet, a one mile trail took three hours to complete. The vistas were worth every second! I fell in love with the wavy layers of compressed sediment, accented by the adorable tent rocks. Utterly timeless. I finally settled on using this image, but I have many more to sort through. I look forward to sharing those with you so keep your eyes peeled.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mexico

I went back and forth on whether to keep with the winter theme in week 31, but as soon as I saw the wintery results my mind was made up. Image #211 really reminded me of the wall from Game of Thrones. I serendipitously stumbled on the quote above by George R. R. Martin in my quest for something blizzard and snow themed. Using his quote is even more fitting after the Santa Fe trip as he lives out there. I love when things come together like this.

Everyday the edits get less and less blue signifying my return to Florida. A land of blooming flowers, lush green views, a light dusting of pollen, and heat. A far cry from Santa Fe in more ways than one.